While the relationship has undoubtedly progressed since the 1970s, a closer examination of the early period of the ‘troubles’ highlights the extent to which Northern Ireland, and the legacies of the conflict, have the potential to cause dangerous diplomatic rifts in Anglo-Irish relations.

Paul Rouse's paper examines what happens when sports organisations sell their broadcasting rights to pay-tv companies. It looks, in particular, at what happened to the audience viewing figures for Leinster and Munster rugby matches when the rights to show those matches moved from RTE to Sky Sports.

Why did the Irish health service develop in the way that it did? How did small, local hospitals become so important? And was the policy focus misplaced on hospitals rather than on people’s health? In this paper Mary E. Daly argues that the Irish health service has been shaped by historical forces, some of which are now largely forgotten, even though their legacy is evident in today’s health service and in current policy debates.

This section works for a better and more informed public policy through a more nuanced understanding of history. The papers demonstrate the importance of history to policymaking and provide a forum through which current historical research can influence policymakers.